Episode 109
Introduction Yamazaki, with the intent of spying on the Joui faction, undergoes the necessary testing and training as one of its new recruits. Plot Two Jouishishi discuss the recent events of how a spy infiltrated the Shinsengumi in order to destroy it but failed. Yamazaki then confronts the two men and asks to be able to join them. In his inner monologue, Yamazaki explains the necessities for being a spy and how he meets all of the requirements. The two Jouishishi that Yamazaki encountered prior leads him to their leader Katsura. It's revealed that Yamazaki plans to find the Jouishishi's HQ and arrest all of the conspirators in one fell swoop. At a maid cafe, Katsura interviews Yamazaki, which is a procedure to weed out spies. Somehow, Yamazaki manages to pass the interview phase and proceeds to the second phase of joining the Jouishishi, an entrance exam. Yamazaki, perplexed as to why this part even exists, he still manages to pass it. He then moves onto the third phase of the exam a practical skills exam. From there he's assigned an instructor-director a man called Dragon Leader who has an eerie similarity to Jackie Chan. The two proceed through the third part of the exam and are joined by Katsura who quizzes Yamazaki throughout the exam. In the end, Yamazaki manages to pass the exam, however, he drops his Shinsengumi license, exposing him as a spy. Characters *Yamazaki Sagaru *Katsura Kotarou *Hijikata Toushirou (mentioned) *Dragon Leader Differences from the Manga *The 2nd question's answer: Toshiro Mifune, is changed into "Ken Matsudaira". Trivia * 'AkibaNeo' is mentioned by Yamazaki as the district where the Jouishishi hideout is - this is a reference to Tokyo's Akihabara Electronics Town. * 'Z 計劃' 'Project Z(ura)' Parody - ** This is a parody of a Hong Kong movie 'A 計劃' ('Project A'), starring 成龍 Jackie Chan、洪金寶 Samo Hung and 元彪 Yuen Biao. ** 成龍 Jackie Chan、洪金寶 Samo Hung and 元彪 Yuen Biao are 3 Hong Kong movie stars well known for their action flicks. The 3 were close friends in the same performing arts troupe by the name of 七小福戲班 Seven Little Fortunes, comprising some of the best students from the Peking Opera school, where 成龍 Jackie Chan learned his martial arts skills in his youth. ** In this Gintama episode, 成龍 Jackie Chan、洪金寶 Samo Hung are spoofed with cameos, 元彪 Yuen Biao only mentioned in name. ** In the Japanese version of this Hong Kong movie 「プロジェクトA」, 成龍 Jackie Chan's character was given the Japanese name of 'ドラゴン Doragon', 洪金寶 Samo Hung's was 'フェイ Fei'. ** Katsura mentioned that the answer '元彪 Yuen Biao' would only get half-a-point, this may be because 元彪 Yuen Biao's character started out as a nasty spoilt brat, being the nephew of a high-ranking police officer, in the above movie. ** Beginning part of this episode's ending theme is the Cantonese theme from 'Project A' ** For more details on Jackie Chan's movies, refer to Wikipedia Link *'Matsudaira Ken' was given by Katsura as the 'correct' answer to the Jouishishi entrance exam question 'Please write out the kana reading to the following kanji: Shogun' - ** 松平健 Matsudaira Ken, is a Japanese actor who acted in long-running series 暴れん坊将軍　Abarenbo Shogun　as the main protagonist 徳川吉宗 Tokugawa Yoshimune. :* 松平健 Matsudaira Ken also appeared in a number of cuisine-related shows such as 新・美味しんぼ Shin Oishinbo and 「バニラ気分！GO!GO!サタ」 Banira kibun Go Go Sata. In the latter program, he would frequently cook some dishes live on the show for the audience to try out while a topic is being discussed. ** 徳川吉宗 Tokugawa Yoshimune, who was well known for his thrifty habits and financial reforms, in particular, stabilizing the price of rice, was the great-grandson of Tokogawa Ieyasu, the first Shogun to unite Japan. This series started airing in 1978 on TV Asahi. ** For more details on the series, refer to Wikipedia Link, for full details refer to Japanese version. ** For more details on 徳川吉宗 Tokugawa Yoshimune, refer to the Japanese or Chinese version of this Wikipedia Link ** For more details on 松平健 Matsudaira Ken, refer to his Personal Website * City Hunter reference - ** 成龍 Jackie Chan starred in this Hong Kong remake 城市獵人 of Japanese anime/manga series in the leading role of 冴羽 獠 Saeba Ryo during the 1990s, the female partner role 槇村香 Makimura Kaori was played by 王祖賢 Joey Wong, known for her long flowing hair back then, as shown in the episode's depiction ** Kamchatka language - a language of the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East. ** The ending credits for this Gintama episode, in mimicking the Chinese movie's ending credit roll, is written in a mix of Chinese characters (complex and simplified characters) and Japanese kanji, in keeping to the Hong Kong movie's spirit, as shown in the heading for the seiyuu section '声音的演出'. ** When Dragon / Katsura fell off the clock tower, the 'correct' answer to the question that follows is 'to include the earlier footage into the ending credits' - ** This references Jackie Chan's penchant for including NG shots or outtakes in the ending credits, a signature of all his movies after 'The Cannonball Run'. 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